by
Sustainability and Circular Economy Workshop
Pollenzo University of Gastronomic Sciences
Another way to enact circularity in the kitchen certainly includes careful planning of weekly meals, so that leftovers from one meal can become inputs for the next days’ dishes. Implementing this behavior avoids the waste caused by buying excess food, while also having the opportunity to create a wide variety of dishes with a minimal amount of spending. Remember that the “Capital” of every cook is the ingredient, a guarantee of the wholesomeness, nutritional value and goodness of the final preparation but also an element of connection with the production chain. Very often the choice of ingredient is influenced by its final price and its service value (ease of use in the home or guarantee of standards in the professional sector), positioning it in functional relation to the set goal: meeting a budget, shortening time, serving a certain imagined dish. In addition, in a circular perspective, the ingredient is accompanied by hidden environmental and social costs; the natural and cultural biodiversity of territories and the resulting diffuse economy; production choice and its impact; resource utilization in both production and processing; and the recognition of labor and its equity. The ingredient is not functional to the objective but is itself the objective: from knowledge of the ingredient comes the choice and definition of the dish, not the other way around. It is thus constituted as a link that, through the menu, unites the two ends of the supply chain: production and consumption. Its relevance dictates utilization of every part of it tending to 100%. Thus, the menu is an important planning tool while the choice of ingredient helps shape it. The declination of the ingredient into its parts and the identification of the semi-finished products that can be obtained, goes to define the possible basic elements that are used in the dishes, in the menu of the individual meal or in the weekly menu in a perspective of “Cyclicality” and, in particular, of “Metabolization” of each part (see in-depth study “The 3Cs of the Circular Economy for Food by UNISG”).
Circular menu developed by UNISG for the catering company Bibendum in connection with the Ecomondo 2021 event.
